Extractor basket drive



A g- 1950 P. A. BAYLESS 2,519,813

EXTRACTOR BASKET DRIVE Filed July 9, 1946 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 43 23 /2 3/ PAW/0K ,4. BAYLESS,

1950 P. A. BAYLESS 2,519,813

EXTRACTOR BASKET DRIVE Filed July 9,- 1946 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 FIG. 5

| I i l I I III! A PA TRICK A. BA YL E55,.

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Patented Aug. 22, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 9 Claims.

This invention relates to extractors and has particular reference to the driving mechanism for extractors, which separate liquids, moistures, vapors, residues, and odors from solids. This application is a continuation-in-part of my copending application Serial Number 455,945, filed August 24, 1942, for Extractors, now Patent No. 2,406,187.

The present device is applicable to many industrial fields such as the textile, dye, laundry, and dry cleaning fields; the removal of oil from metal turnings and chips; the extraction of juices or liquids from fruit and roots; and many similar uses too numerous to mention.

Laundry extractors of this general class are supposed to be loaded as evenly as possible so that the entire weight of the material will be uniformly distributed in the basket. However,

.it is a practical impossibility to load nets containing material, or material in the bulk, in this manner. This unbalance may vary from the equivalent of 10 to pounds at the periphery of the basket for a 48-inch basket. With a 10- pound unbalance at a speed of 860 R. P. M., a 48-inch basket will develop an additional strain of 5,044 pounds on the side sheet and bearings which often causes severe vibrations, noise and wear on the parts of the extractor, to say nothing of the danger to the operator and others due to these unbalanced forces.

As has been pointed out in an article entitled Engineering Principles in Extractor Construction, by J. S. Sando, pages 16-19 of "A Laundry Exhibit for 1930, all extractors are designed to relieve the aforementioned strains and may be classified as restrained or unrestrained types. If the material in the extractor basket is unevenly loaded, which is most always the case, the center of gravity of the basket will not coincide with the center of the spindle; however, the basket will rotate about the center of gravity, thereby producing a gyrating movement. The restrained type is usually confined to the small machines in which the basket does not exceed inches in diameter. Even with the use of rubber to partially absorb the vibrations generated, the machine requires a substantial foundation.

In centrifugal extractors, vibrations develop mainly from the action of centrifugal, torsional, and gravitational forces on the unbalanced load. If the loaded basket is forced to rotate about a rigid axis, the center of gravity of the load is also rotated about this axis and the centrifugal force developed by the mass of the unbalanced load causes excessive vibration. It has heretofore been proposed to provide a resilient support and drive the basket through a universal coupling so the center of gravity may move toward the center of rotation. This has reduced vibration due to centrifugal force, but has increased vibrational forces due to torsional and gravitational forces.

To shift the center of gravity toward the center of rotation, the drive shaft has been moved from the vertical. Rotation of the basket about an inclined axis, means rotation of the center of gravity in an inclined plane and vertical vibrational forces are set up by the action of gravitational forces. Also, conventional universal couplings do not provide a uniform velocity between driving and driven members. Hence, the drive shaft for the basket would be accelerated and decelerated during each revolution of the basket. This continuous change in velocity causes vibration due to torsional forces.

A major object of the invention is to provide a novel mounting for the extractor basket wherein the gyrating movement or oscillations thereof are confined to the basket and are not transmitted to other parts of the extractor. By confining such gyrating movements to the basket only, less power is used for driving the extractor than when the motor, curb, base, etc., gyrate with the basket and the entire extractor is more quiet in operation and the wear and tear on the parts is greatly reduced. Also with my novel mounting for the basket, the usual supporting posts and rods usually present in the unrestrained type of extractor are eliminated and the basket can, therefore, be loaded or unloaded from any desired position. Furthermore, this mounting greatly reduces the overall height of the basket and curb of the extractor to facilitate loading and unloading.

Another object is to provide improved mounting and driving mechanisms which will absorb vibrational forces set up by rotation of the basket and prevent transmission of these forces to the power apparatus on the base of the extractor.

A further object is to provide an improved mounting which permits vertical oscillation of the extractor basket relative to the drive shaft, thereby dissipating vibrational forces due to the gravitational pull on unevenly distributed loads in the basket.

A further object is to dissipate both-vertical and horizontal components of vibrational forces by mounting the extractor basket on a torsionally elastic hub at the end of a resiliently supported free floating shaft.

A further object is to eliminate vibration due to changes in velocity of the basket by driving the basket through a constant-velocity type flexible coupling providing a torsional connection only between the basket and its driving mechanism.

A further object is to provide a basket mounting which reduces the overall height of the machine to facilitate loading and unloading the basket.

A still further object is to provide an extractor of the aforesaid character which shall be relatively quiet in operation and devoid of excessive vibration. thereby relieving the operator and adjacent workers of nerve strain and materially increasing the safety factor for centrifugally operated extractors.

Further and more limited objects and advantages will become apparent as the description proceeds and these will be pointed out hereinafter.

According to the invention in its preferred form, the extractor basket is mounted, approximately at its center of gravity, for rotation about a vertical axis. This mounting may be in the form of a torsionally elastic hub permitting oscillation of the basket relative to the vertical axis, thereby dissipating vertical vibrational forces without causing vibrations of the free floating spindle which rotates the hub. The free floating spindle is journalled in a housing which also supports the hub and basket. This housing be resiliently mounted on the base of the extractor to dissipate horizontal and vertical vibrational forces by allowing oscillation of the free float ng shaft relative to its normally vertical position. Torsional vibration is eliminated by driving the basket by means of a constantvelocity tvpe flexible transmission that is solely torsionally connected with the free floatin shaft.

To provide a compact driving assembly, the vertical shaft is coupled to a vertical stub shaft in the ba e by means of the flexible transmission. and the stub shaft is driven through gearing by a horizontal power shaft extending between re ilient sup'oorts for the housing. With this com act arran ement. the. basket is mounted low enough to facilitate loading and unloading operations. thereb reducing fatigue on the part of the operator. This saving in height is effected by efliciently utilizing space below the basket and not by reducing the basket volume.

Movin parts of the basket drive are assured a long life because all of them run in oil. The com act basket drive, including the flexib e transmission. gearing. and bearings. runs entirely in oil retained by a flex ble lubrication uard.

In the drawin s accompanying and forming a part of this application.

Fig. 1 is a view partly in elevation and partly in sect on of an extractor constructed in accordance with my invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view through the basket spindle support and associated mechanism;

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the gyrating motion of the basket spindle due to unbalanced loads;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 44 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a horizontal sectional view through the lower portion of the base of the extractor with certain parts shown in plan view.

Referring to the drawings, an extractor illustrating one embodiment of the invention is shown as having a base I! which is preferably provided with feet l2 that extend below the plane of the base so that the extractor will be raised from the floor a distance suflicient to provide toe room for the operator during loading or unloading operations. As shown particularly in Fig. 5, the base is volute in plan view so as to provide a liquid channel |3 of increasing area toward the liquid discharge outlet M. This channel is illustrated as being substantially semicircular in cross section, and its depth increases and the bottom surface thereof also slopes downwardly toward the liquid discharge opening M. An upstanding annular guide ring or collar I5 is formed on the top surface of the base and is spaced inwardly of the liquid channel l3.

The central portion of the base inside of the guide ring I5 is formed with depending walls which connect with a basket support and drive housing I8. A drive shaft channel |9 extends radially outwardly from the housing |8 to the exterior wall of the base Positioned within this channel is a horizontal drive shaft 2| (Fig. 2) which is journalled in bearings 22 at its inner end and a bearing (not shown) adjacent its outer end. The outer end of the drive shaft projects through a packing gland 23 and is operatively connected to a prime mover such as electric motor 24 which is provided with a brake indicated generally at 25.

The inner end of drive shaft 2| is fitted with a drive pinion 26 that meshes with a ring bevel gear 2'5. This gear is carried by a stub shaft 28 that is journalled in bearings 29 which are mounted in the drive housing l8. A thrust bearing 3| is interposed between the lower end of stub shaft 28 and a bearing housing cap 32 that is bolted to the housing l8. Pivotally connected to the upper end of stub shaft 28 by means of a coupling pin 33 is a lower angular coupling member 34 which is substantially rectangular in cross section. The upper end portion of coupling member 34 is only torsionally engaged in a transverse slot 35 that is formed in an upper angular coupling member 36 which in turn is pivotally connected to the lower end of free floating basket drive spindle 31 by a coupling pin 38. The drive connection between the stub shaft 28 and the free floating basket drive spindle 31 embodies the principle of the Bartlett angular transmission which permits an angular sweep of between the driving and driven shafts while maintaining a uniform angular velocity ratio of 1:1 between these shafts. While coupling members 34 and 36 are torsionally connected together, they do not provide any thrust or axial connection between stub shaft 28 and free floating spindle 31. Hence, free floating spindle 37 may float vertically with the basket while maintaining its torsional connection to stub shaft 28. A lubrication guard 39 encloses the drive connections between the free floating spindle 31 and the drive pinion 26, as clearly shown in Fig. 2, for the purpose of retaining lubricant so all parts of the drive run in oil.

Secured to the drive housing I8 is a tripod spindle housing 4| for the free floating basket drive spindle 31. As shown particularly in Figs. 1, 2, and 5, the housing 4| is provided with three feet 42 which are yieldingly fastened to the drive housing |8 by bolts 43 and interposed resilient pads 44. Preferably resilient tubes 45 encloses the bolts 43 so that the drive housing I8 is completely insulated from any vibrations which may be generated by the basket and its drive spindle 31 during operation of the extractor, and at the same time, these yielding connections will permit a certain amount of gyratory movement of the basket and spindle with respect to the drive housing is and associated parts of the machine, as will be explained more fully hereinafter. This resilient mounting of the housing 4! permits oscillation of the free floating drive spindle 31 relative to its normally vertical position. In this manner, the basket is permitted to rotate about its center of gravity and horizontal components of vibrational forces are either eliminated or dissipated.

The tripod housing ti carries vertically spaced bearings 46 in which the free floating basket drive spindle 31 is journalled. The upper end portion of the drive shaft 3! is tapered for torsional connection to a frusto-conical drive hub 41. A thrust hearing as is intrrposed between the hub 47 and the top of the spindle housing M to rotatably support the hub on the spindle housing so it may be turned by the free floating spindle 31. The bottom wall 65 of the basket is sloped upwardly adjacent its central portion as indicated at El and this portion merges with an upstanding cylindrical central hub 52 that is connected with the drive hub ll through a resilient vibration absorbing pad 53. A frusto-conically shaped ring as of elastic rubber is interposed between and bonded to the hubs ll and 52. A drive cap 55 which is fitted over the upper end of the free floating drive spindle 3?. Nuts 55 threaded on the free floating drive spindle hold the parts in position, and a cap engaged over the upper end of the basket hub portion 52 provides a smooth exterior surface. With the has ket thus mounted on a torsionally elastic hub on the free floating drive spindle (ll, any vertical components of vibrational forces are eliminated or dissipated because the basket may oscillate in any direction relative to the free floating drive spindle 3'5 and the housing ii. In this way. the basket may maintain a canted position relative to the free floating spindle it? so the center of gravity of the loaded basket will rotate in a horizontal plane, and vibrational forces will not be transmitted to the free floating drive spindle, the spindle housing or the base of the extractor.

To assure constant lubr'cation of the moving parts of the driving mechanism, all gearing and bearings run in oil. The lubrication guard 3a is flexible, preferably of rubber, such as neoprene and forms a fluid-tight casing around the baslist d We even though the free floating drive spindie 3'! moves relative to the housing. in Figs. 1 and 2, this flexible lubrication guard is generally frustroconical in shape and has its base bonded to the drive housing ii! at 53. The upper rim or" the guard is bonded to the tripod spindle housing a! at 59. To acommodate the pinion 26, an opening in the guard 39 is surrounded by an extension es which is bonded to the drive shaft channel is.

As is apparent in the drawings, a fluid-tight chamber is formed by the drive housing E3, the tripod spindle housing ll, and the flexible lubricant guard 33. a re being flexible, permits the spindle housing ii to move during gyrations of the basket, without opening the fluidtight casing.

In operation, materials from which liquid is to be extracted are loaded into 5i and distributed as evenly as practical about the hub 52. Cover 52 is then closed and a telescopic air duct 63 is lowered so that sealing ring 6 3 en- As shown gages with the peripheral edge of the opening in cover plate 65. The use of cover 62 prevents the operator from overloading the basket as this cover must be closed before the extractor can be operated. The electric motor 25 or other prime mover is now energized to rotate the basket. Liquid is expelled from the material by centrifugal force and also by reason of the air currents passing through the basket and materials therein. The liquid passes freely through the screen wall of the basket and strikes the inner surface of wall. 66 from which it readily flows downwardly to channel l3 by reason of deflector vanes 61.

As has been previously referred to, it is a practical impossibility to load the materials into the basket so that they will be evenly distributed therein. Hence when the basket is rotated, it will tend to rotate about its center of gravity which will not coincide with the axis of the free floating basket spindle 37. This would tend to cause a gyratory movement of the basket and severe vibration of the entire machine if it were not for the novel arrangement of the basket mounting and free floating drive spindle. As indicated diagrammatically in Fig. 3, the gyratory movement of the basket causes the upper end of the drive spindle 31 to move in a circular path, whose center of rotation is about the slotted connection between the members 34 and 36. As free floating spindle 3'1 is only torsionally connected to the stub shaft 28, the circular movement of spindle 31 does not cause any axial strain on coupling members 34 and 36 or their respective pins 33 and 38. In this way, the center of gravity of the loaded basket is moved toward the center of rotation. This gyratory motion is restrained, however, by the tripod spindle housing 4| and the vibrations set up therein are dampened by the resilient pads M and tubes surrounding the bolts 43 so that transmission of vibrations to the base H is reduced to a minimum. Hence, horizontal and vertical vibrational forces, developed by action of centrifugal forces on an unbalanced load, cause the basket with its load to dance and shuttle during the starting period thereby preventing packing due to centrifugal force and causing more uniform distribution of the load during acceleration to running speed. However, these vibrational forces are either eliminated after starting by moving the center of gravity toward the center of rotation, or are dissipated in gyratory movements of housing 4| restrained by the resilient pads 44.

The arrangement of resilient pad 53 and elastic band 54 bonded between the basket hub 52 and the drive hub 41 also effectively dampens vertical vibrational forces set up by the gravitational pull on an unbalanced load in the basket. The limited and restrained relative movement between the basket and free floating drive spindle 3! permits the basket to cant relative to the drive spindle and its rotational axis so the center of gravity of an unbalanced load is rotated in a more nearly horizontal plane. The restrained oscillation of the basket relative to the free floating spindle causes the load to dance and shuiiie during starting accelerations and either eliminates or dissipates vertical vibrational components caused by the force of gravity on an unbalanced load. In fact, the vibrations that are generated are so effectively dissipated that the extractor operates quietly and there is no tendency for the machine to move from its support even if not fastened down by the legs l2.

A further contributory feature to the elimination of vibration resides in the use of the previously mentioned Bartlett angular transmission whereby the stub shaft 28 and the free floating basket drive spindle 31 are only torsionally coupled and maintain equal angular Velocities even during gyratory motion of the basket and free floating spindle 31. Hence, there is no tendency for the basket to increase and decrease its angular velocity twice during each revolution, as would be the case if an ordinary universal joint were used in the drive transmission, so even torsional vibrations are reduced.

In addition to reducing vibration, the basket drive described herein supports the extractor basket much lower, and, therefore, more readily accessible to the operator. The horizontal arrangement of the drive shaft 2 i, so it extends between legs of the tripod housing, and the arrangement of ring gear 21 below pinion 25 efliciently utilizes the space below the basket so, as shown in Fig. 1, it is not necessary to raise the basket as high above the base as has heretofore been necessary with under-driven extractors. By lowering the basket, as well as the curb, operator fatigue is greatly reduced, and loading and unloading operations are expedited.

After the liquid is expelled from the material in the basket, the motor 24 is deenergized and the rotary movement of the basket is brought to a stop by application of the brake 25. The telescopic air duct 63 is then raised and the cover 62 removed to give access to the material in the basket.

As many changes could be made in the specific construction described herein without departing from the invention defined in the appended claims, the above description and accompanying drawings are intended to illustrate one embodiment of the invention and should not be interpreted in a limiting sense.

What I claim is:

1. In a centrifugal extractor, a base, driving mechanism comprising a shaft journalled in said base, a spindle housing, resilient means supporting said housing on the base, a spindle rotatable in the housing, a flexible coupling between said shaft and said spindle permitting movement of said spindle relative to said base, and a flexible lubrication guard extending between said base and said housing around said coupling intermediate said coupling and said resilient means in a manner forming a fluid-tight chamber for retaining lubricant for said coupling.

2. An extractor of the character described comprising a basket housing having a base and side walls, a substantially horizontally disposed drive shaft extending radially from the central portion of said base to a point exteriorly of the side walls of said housing, a vertically disposed stub shaft journaled in the central portion of said base, a ring gear on said stub shaft, a drive pinion on said drive shaft meshing with said ring gear, a cylindrical spindle housing having radially outwardly extending feet straddlin said drive shaft and resiliently supported and retained on said base, a free floating spindle journaled in said spindle housing, a constant velocity flexible transmission unit horizontally alined with the resilient support for said feet, and only torsionally connecting said spindle to said stub shaft, a vertical thrust bearing at the top of said spindle housing surrounding said spindle, a hub resting on said thrust bearing and coupled to said spindle, an elastic band on said spindle, and

a basket supported by said band to be rotated by said spindle.

3. In a centrifugal extractor having a base, apparatus for supporting a container on the base comprising a vertical spindle housing, a plurality of feet extending horizontally outwardly from said housing, resilient pads interposed between said feet and the base resiliently supporting said housing, a vertical thrust bearing on said housing adjacent its upper end, a hub rotatable on said thrust bearing, elastic means on said hub for supporting a container to rotate therewith, a free floating drive spindle journalled within said housing, said drive spindle being suspended from and having a driving connection with said hub to rotate the container, and a flexible coupling providing a solely torsional connection between the lower end of said spindle and a drive shaft on said base for rotating said hub without transmitting oscillating movements of said spindle and said housing to said base.

4. A centrifugal extractor comprising a base, a spindle housing, resilient means supporting said housing on said base to permit oscillation of said housing about horizontal axes, a vertical thrust bearing on said housing adjacent its upper end, a hub rotatable on said thrust bearing, elastic means on said hub, a container supported at substantially its center of gravity by said elastic means on said hub, a free floating drive spindle journalled within said housing suspended from and having a driving connection with said hub to rotate said container, and a flexible coupling providing a solely torsional connection between said spindle and a drive shaft on said base to rotate said container without transmitting oscillating movements of said container and said housing to said base.

5. An extractor of the character described comprising a basket housing having a base and side walls, a spindle housing, resilient means supporting said spindle housing on said base to permit oscillation of said housing relative to said base about horizontal axes, a hub rotatably mounted on said housing adjacent its upper end, elastic means on said hub, a basket supported on and torsionally connected tosaid hub by said elastic means, a free floating spindle journalled within said spindle housing suspended from and having a driving connection with said hub to rotate said basket, driving means on said base, and a flexible transmission unit providing only a torsional connection between said spindle and said driving means, said unit being substantially in horizontal alinement with said resilient means, whereby said basket, spindle housing and spindle may move vertically and gyrate about horizontal axes relative to said base.

6. An extractor basket of the character described comprising a housing having a base and side walls, a substantially horizontally disposed drive shaft extending radially from the central portion of said base to a point external of the side walls of said housing, a hollow spindle housing having horizontally outwardly extending feet straddling said drive shaft, resilient pads interposed between said feet and said base, a hub rotatably carried by the upper end of said spindle housing, a free floating spindle suspended from said hub and journalled in said housing, a stub shaft vertically alined with said spindle and journalled in said base, a ring gear on said stub shaft meshing with a pinion on said drive shaft, a flexible transmission solely torsionally connecting said stub shaft and said spindle, elastic means 9 on said hub, and anextractor basket supported on said hub by said elastic means.

7. In a centrifugal extractor having a base and an extractor basket, driving mechanism for the extractor basket comprising a vertical stub shaft journalled in the base, a gear on the upper portion of said stub shaft, a spindle housing extending upwardly from the base above said stub shaft and having horizontally outwardly extending feet surrounding said gear, resilient means supporting said feet on the base, a horizontal drive shaft extending between two of said feet, a pinion on said drive shaft meshing with said gear, a hub rotatably mounted on said spindle housing adjacent its upper end, a free floating spindle journalled within said housing depending from said hub and torsionally connected thereto, and a flexible coupling solely torsionally connecting said spindle to said stub shaft for rotating the basket without transmitting vibrational forces to the base.

8. In a, centrifugal extractor having a base and an extractor basket, the driving mechanism defined in claim 7 wherein said flexible coupling is a constant velocity flexible coupling.

9. In a centrifugal extractor having a base, basket driving and supporting apparatus comprising a housing, resilient means supporting said housing on the base to permit oscillation of said housing about horizontal axes, a vertical thrust bearing on said housing adjacent its upper REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 873,390 Stevenson et al. Dec. 10, 1907 1,184,915 Bartlett May 30, 1916 1,483,326 Bock Feb. 12, 1924 1,772,863 Green Aug. 12, 1930 2,091,679 Grant Aug. 31, 1937 2,222,329 Watts Nov. 19, 1940 2,298,095 Dunham Oct. 6, 1942 2,302,012 Dyer Nov. 17, 1942 2,346,669 Dunham Apr. 18, 1944 2,361,767 Hays, Jr. Oct. 31, 1944 2,366,236 Clark Jan. 2, 1945 2,406,226 Kimball Aug. 20, 1946 

